Google was featuring competitor advertisements in the top spot ahead of the original and organic search results for project management platform Basecamp, forcing them to pay for the top advertising spot. Even though they are “basecamp“, without paying, that was not enough for Google search. In a creative attempt to overcome their anger about this, the Basecamp bought the #1 ad spot and chose a very interesting way to title it: “Basecamp.com | We don’t want to run this ad.” “We’re the #1 result, but this site lets companies advertise against us using our brand. So here we are. A small, independent co. forced to pay ransom to a giant tech company.” Well done Basecamp!

Matei Curtasu: “Whoever refuses to work on Google Ads should be shown this. It’s not just a funny copy ad, but an intelligent way to hack an entire platform, especially when dealing with the SEO search wars and the era of ad walls. ”